Gray wolf sighting in Lake County signals California expansion

Wildlife officials have confirmed a rare gray wolf sighting in Lake County, marking a significant milestone in the recovery and geographic expansion of the endangered species in California. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife received two reports and photographic evidence in late August from a rural area where Mendocino, Glenn, and Lake counties converge.

State biologists verified the sighting by reviewing images and locating physical tracks during on-the-ground surveys. This discovery is considered particularly significant because most of the state’s recovering wolf population has established territories east of Interstate 5; this sighting places a wolf west of the highway corridor, an area with robust populations of elk and other natural prey.

Gray wolves vanished from California in the 1920s but have begun a slow return, following the 2011 arrival of an Oregon-born wolf known as OR7. State authorities currently track at least 50 wolves within California borders. Under state law, gray wolves are strictly protected as an endangered species, making it illegal to hunt, harass, or kill them.